It’s finally basketball season, when the brand new Walsh Gym fills up with one of the best student sections in the state. For the Ranger basketball team, a 1-2 start against some of the top teams in 4A has proved to be good and bad with only two returning starters.
With the same exact first three games on the schedule as last year, the Rangers took on the Mesquite Skeeters, the South Oak Cliff Golden Bears, and the North Dallas rival, the Highland Park Scots. The Rangers fared well in all three games with a brand new set of Juniors and only returning starters Guard Brocke Stepteau ’14 and Forward Michael McReynolds ’15.
Coach Chris Hill explained that in these three games, the most important thing for the Rangers was for the players to “continue to gain experience playing together.” Coach Hill went on to say that the team needs to get better at executing under pressure.
In the season opener against the Skeeters, the Rangers got off to a fast start and did not let up, leading to a 56-46 win to put the Rangers at 1-0. Forward Michael McReynolds ’15 showed in this game that he can pick up where he left off this season, corralling a good amount of rebounds and dominating down low in the paint.
Speedy junior Guard Christian Chiles came off the bench to keep the game fast-paced, and his performance in his first ever varsity game impressed Coach Hill and the rest of the coaching staff. Center Peter Lynch ’15, seeing his first varsity action, also got a lot of playing time and played physically to grab his team several rebounds.
In the home opener at Walsh Gym, Jesuit honored all of the recent basketball coaches, including senior counselor Jack Fitzsimmons. There were renovations done over the summer, including a ring around the top of the gym.
Going into the South Oak Cliff game, the Rangers knew it was going to be largely offensive contest, with a Golden Bears team thought to be one of the better teams in their division. Starters Hank Shotland ’15 and Michael Bejarano ’14 kept the Rangers neck and neck with the Golden Bears.
With the shootout going back and forth, the Rangers unfortunately lost in a tight game 84-79, a high scoring affair. Although the Rangers lost, it was a big game for the team in which the players maintained an offensive rhythm that allowed them to score 79 points.
This past Tuesday, November 19, Jesuit took on the archrival Highland Park Scots. In a game that was the biggest turnout of the year with fans from both teams completely filling the stands, the Rangers got off to a fast start and only had a small deficit at the half. Returning from a minor injury, Guard Christian Koeijmans ’14 came off the bench and played very well. Although the final score was 66-52 in favor of HP, the Rangers hung with the Scots but could not overcome an 8 point deficit in the fourth and were forced to foul.
Coach Hill is impressed with a few things his team has done and recognizes that there have been a few down sides as well. Hill went on to say that “all and all I think we’re right where we need to be.”
Koeijmans also believes his team has done well and has improved over the past three games. Koeijmans added, “I believe that the team will do well over the course of the season and can improve as we start to play together more often.”
The Rangers have a tough game against Lakeview Centennial on Tuesday, November 26 as they try to defeat the Patriots once again as they did last year in the playoffs.
